Reboot

Things have been going well, diabetically speaking. M has finished her field hockey season and was designated MVP of her team. Now she is living a more sedentary life. Her grades are going up, as are her blood sugars.

Higher blood glucose readings are to be expected. After all, exercise keeps bg down. Remove the daily 2 mile runs and 1 hour practices, and the bg will go up. So, although it is a bit of a bummer, it is not an unexpected one.

About two weeks after her last game, we noticed M's bgs creeping upward. We adjusted her basal rate by 0.25 units per hour over all.

Her pump had been delivering a steady stream of 3.0 units of insulin per hour at night, and 3.25 units per hour during the day. The basal rate, in theory, is the part that will keep her bg within range when she is not eating. Anything she gives herself when she eats is considered a bolus.

So now she was up to 3.25 at night, and 3.5 during the day, but we did have to make another adjustment about a week later. It seemed we had found the magic numbers. She was healthy, and her numbers seemed to be doing well.

On the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, we drove to pick up big brother at the airport. Since I was not driving, I though I would ask to see M's meter so that I could see how she had been doing the last few days.

She pulled the meter out.

She paused.

She started flipping through her numbers.

This is when I knew that something was up.

"You know, M, " I said casually, "I can read the meter all by myself. Just hand it up."

Long pause. Frantic pushing of buttons.

"M, hand it up," I repeated.

"There's something I have to tell you, " M said.

"Here it comes," I thought.

"Some of my numbers are missing, because I have been forgetting my meter when I go to school. So if you see any missing numbers, it's because I used my other meter at school."

When I collected the meter, I flipped through the numbers for the day. Except that there was only ONE number for the day. In fact, it was the only number for TWO days. She had only checked her bg on that meter six times since October 30th.

Here we go again.

"M," I said, "You told me that your bg was 131 this morning. That number is not here. Did you run to school and use the meter there to check it?"

No answer.

Rather than give her "buck up" speech, I said this.

"All right. starting today you will be checking your bg six times per day, and I will need to see it."

And that was all.

I was worried. I was furious. But yelling was not going to cut it. And neither was telling her that she was putting her life in danger.

So yesterday and today: six times, and I see them all.

Which is great because I can monitor her.

Which is not great, because how is she going to be responsible enough to do it herself? Ever?

I don't know.

But we will need to figure it out.

Not shocked this time!